Thursday

The Clippers played long ball with the Indianapolis Indians last night and received another strong start from John Lannan in a 7-5 victory in Cooper Stadium.

The Clippers played long ball with the Indianapolis Indians last night and received another strong start from John Lannan in a 7-5 victory in Cooper Stadium.

On a sticky, 90-degree night, many in the crowd of 3,734 were wishing for a rocking chair, porch and lemonade. With the help of a 15 mph wind blowing to right-center field, Clippers manager John Stearns said the players took advantage.

"It was the most humid, hot day of the year," Stearns said. "The players knew it would be the kind of conditions to take advantage of, knowing the ball would carry with the wind blowing out to right."

On the night that Brandon Watson returned from the Washington Nationals, Stearns called out Lannan, Michael Restovich and Brent Abernathy for their sterling play.

Restovich hit a two-run homer in the first inning and followed Abernathy's third-inning shot with a 399-foot double off the 400-foot sign in center field.

"Restovich was one of the keys tonight. He's been playing well and so has Abernathy," Stearns said. "But the story of the game was Lannan."

Lannan, a 22-year-old, 6-foot-5, 200-pound left-hander from Long Beach, N.Y., didn't get the win, but he pitched six innings and allowed just one earned run. His ERA after two starts is 0.77. Although he allowed eight hits and one walk, he pitched out of jams. He had an inning-ending strikeout with two on in the third and wiggled out of jams with runners on base in every inning but the first.

The Clippers have won four of their past six games, benefiting in part from recent moves by the Nationals.

"We're getting younger, and our pitching is getting better," Stearns said of Lannan's recent promotion and a trade Sunday for Levale Speigner. "This was a nice, strong win against one of the toughest teams in our division. Our goal is to get to .500 by Aug. 1. If we can do that, we'll stand a good chance of making a push for the playoffs."

Clippings

Watson was sent down by the Nationals on Tuesday night. He pinch-hit in the eighth inning and reached base on an error, which allowed a run to score. He later scored. … Closer Chris Booker has been named to the International League All-Star team. "He deserves it, he's having an incredible season for us," Stearns said. Booker has 20 saves in 33 relief appearances with a 1-2 record and 3.74 ERA and 42 strikeouts.

gweaver@dispatch.com

"The players knew it would be the kind of conditions to take advantage of, knowing the ball would carry with the wind blowing out to right."

John Stearns Clippers manager

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